CUT IT OUT: This morning we woke to a link from friend Undine about an art project she just knew we'd be interested in - and she was right. The project is some My Little Pony inspired papercraft patterns by artist Kna. You cut them out, fold their tabs, glue 'em and have cute little 3-D ponies. Sounds simple, right?
Wrong! It was really challenging! So much so, that despite our working a hardcore hour-plus on it today, we didn't finish even one pony. (I should note there was a fair amount of waiting for glue to dry time built in to that hour. I should also mention that these amazingly intricate little ponies didn't come with instructions.)
While the kids were a bit disappointed that it wasn't a 3-5 minute project, I told them that not ever project we tackle is going to be a) quick or b) easy or c) quick and easy. And there's a good lesson in that! :)
I hope that by tomorrow we will have a complete Derpy Hooves and Fluttershy to show you. But don't hold your breath. ... ;)
There were lots of ideas for writing prompts, including NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (always intriguing!), images from Spirit, Opportunity and Phoenix, as well as NASA's feature articles and more.
Weis shared several great lesson plans and curriculum ideas, all of which have complete details and instructions online. He gave a great overview of each, and I loved how the seamlessly weave together science, language arts, math and more - in other words, they're cross-curricular, which just make so much sense.
The elementary school resources he outlined are:
Mission Geography, an investigation using literature to study paths and to help students understand how the world looks from different elevations.
321 Liftoff, which focuses on activities about the International Space Station and the role rockets play in its construction. There's a rocket alphabet,space songs, and so much more.
Destination Mars is a package designed to increase students' knowledge, awareness, and curiosity about the process of scientific exploration of the Red Planet.
Echo and Amelia - online engaging, science based story books about a bat (Echo) and a pigeon(Amelia), teaching about remote sensing.
Reading Writing and Rings uses info gleaned during the Cassini mission to Saturn and helps bolster descriptive language arts skills and science knowledge. There are lesson plans for grades 1-2 and 3-4.
Courage to Soar is an integrated unit allowing students (grades 3-5) to conduct scientific experiments, construct aircraft models, and read selections and research topics about aviation. There are 23 lessons in the guide and while they all have to do with aeronautics, they are cleverly designed to support national math, science, technology, geography and language arts standards. Brilliant! And there are built-in assessment opportunities.
Courage to Soar Higher, for grades 4-6, has opportunities for great fun and learning, ranging from launching pop rockets to creating a pop-up book about the solar system. Per NASA, "Some activities include vocabulary lists and reading selections. Each of the 20 lessons in this guide support national mathematics, science, technology, geography and language arts standards." Sweet!
Aeronautics helps students learn the basic principles of flight. Its guide is divided into three chapters: Air, Flight and We Can Fly, You and I. At the end of each chapter there is a list of interdisciplinary activities for all elementary subjects.
For middle school students, Weis introduced us to ...
Stardust, a series lessons all about comets, including a number of hands-on activities
Destination Mars, also listed above under elementary, also has material for middle schoolers.
Exploring Meteorite Mysteries uses the study of meteorites to provide "a unifying theme that links most every aspect of Earth and Planetary Science with Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology," per its Web site. "The effects of meteorite impacts have serious implications for social science."
Exploring the Moon, a grade 4-12 curriculum using problem solving, communication skills and teamwork. Earth and space science subjects include lunar geology and regolith, distance to the moon, Apollo landing sites and life support systems.
Investigating the Climate System has five modules - Clouds, Energy, Precipitation, Weather, and Winds - each are designed so that they could be used independently.
Do It Yourself Podcasts is a new feature from NASA. Students can take use NASA video, audio and still shots to produce podcasts.
For high schoolers, Weis previewed ...
Genesis (Search for Origins) Mission has modules written for K-12 classroom teachers using the Genesis mission as a real-world link. Mission Geography, also referenced above, has middle and high school curriculum, as well.
Cosmic Connection to the Elements helps make connections demonstrating that chemical elements are all around us, and are part of us, and that the elements have their ultimate origins in cosmic events.
Exploring Meteorite Mysteries "tells the story of solar system history from the formation of the planets to catastrophic impacts on earth" and "helps the students learn how scientists use studies of these rocks from space to decipher that history" per its Web site.
Exploring the Moon considers topics not often talked about regarding the moon, like moonquakes, volcanoes (or lack thereof) and magnetic field.
Human Body in Outer Space is "A Virtual Astronaut Teacher’s Guide to The Human Body in Outer Space."
Weis was kind enough to tell us that NEON, or the NASA Educators Online Network, now has online office hours of 9 a.m through 9 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays to help answer educators' questions. They can be accessed here: https://meeting.psu.edu/neonofficehours2
NEON also just joined Facebook today. You can "like" them here: https://www.facebook.com/seattlefamily?success=1#!/NEONResource
In case you're wondering, the next NEON webinar is entitled "Toys in Space." It's on May 24, from 7 to 8 p.m. Eastern time. For more information on it and other NEON webinars, visit: http://neon.psu.edu/webinars/
The only bad part about the fabulous webinar? Including myself, there were only THREE AUDIENCE MEMBERS. I was going to say, "That's out of the entire U.S.," but since it's the WORLD wide web, it's really out of the entire GLOBE. That's just really too darn bad, because the information presented was a GOLD MINE and it's FREE! And legit teachers can get continuing ed/seat time certificates for participating in these webinars.
ROLE REVERSAL: Forgot to post this photo from last Friday. It's CJ pushing his considerably bigger brother Ken on the swing at the neighborhood park. Good times. :)
Annabelle and I couldn't help but break out into song, Weird Al's "White and Nerdy." Don't worry, he wasn't offended. In fact, he asked to watch the music video twice.
In case you've missed my past 2 dozen posts about it, Space Exploration Technologies will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft to orbit, with the ultimate mission goal of trying to dock with the International Space Station. That's a feat that's only been accomplished by government agencies - the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union.
We stayed up super late/early Saturday night/Sunday morning to watch a launch that was scrubbed at .5 seconds until liftoff due to slightly high pressure in the combustion chamber of engine 5 (of 9).
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